


Fire in the Rain

by mneiai



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cultural Differences, Dark, F/F, F/M, House Targaryen, Incest, Jon Snow is Called Aemon, Jon Snow is Not a Stark, M/M, Modern Westeros, Multi, Not Beta Read, Politics, Possessive Behavior, Sansa Stark Bashing, Targaryen Exceptionalism, Xenophobia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:41:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24729868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mneiai/pseuds/mneiai
Summary: Bringing his girlfriend home to meet his father is not something Aemon Targaryen wants, but it's one of many old customs of Valyria that he was forced to follow by his cultish family. If he and Sansa can manage to spend their holiday break from college with his family, they just might get his father's blessing to marry--or his agreement not to use his political power and money to keep a wedding from happening. But from the moment they land on the smoky shores of Dragonstone, Aemon starts to question whether his relationship will survive.
Relationships: Aegon VI Targaryen/Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia), Elia Martell/Rhaegar Targaryen, Jon Snow & Samwell Tarly, Jon Snow & Starks, Jon Snow/Aegon VI Targaryen/Rhaenys Targaryen (Daughter of Elia), Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow/Sansa Stark, Jon Snow/Viserys Targaryen, Rhaegar Targaryen/Viserys Targaryen
Comments: 7
Kudos: 109





	Fire in the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> People who follow me on tumblr have seen most of this first chapter--I've been debating what to do with it since it became longer and more involved than just a drabble.
> 
> I'm not guaranteeing this will ever be finished, but here's an attempt.
> 
> A single dash for dialogue is used to denote Valyrian:  
> "Common."  
> -Valyrian.-

"I can't believe you grew up here! And I thought Winterfell was antiquated!"

Aemon winced at her words, catching the servants in the shadows of the corridor that she seemed to miss. He knew they would not only take offense, many of them from families who had served his for generations, but that they would also report everything that was said to his father.

"Sansa..." he didn't know what more he could say to caution her, after multiple attempts on the way over.

On the mainland, he could take her sheltered upbringing with a certain amount of fondness. Perhaps her naivete was even part of what had initially drawn her to him, so different than the disaffected attitude of his family. Now, having finally brought her to Dragonstone, he was beginning to have his doubts.

He had met her family multiple times, had spent various breaks in the North with the Starks, getting to know them and pretending like their ways were not as foreign as they were. After all, he'd gotten a lot of practice with that since starting college, spending the first few months desperately hiding how little he understood of the Andal culture of the mainland.

That, too, had been something that had drawn him to her, at first, thinking she must feel similar, until he'd realized that she may be a Stark, but she had been raised by an Andal mother. She did not truly understand what it was like for him.

She tugged his hand, dragging him along through his own home, and he finally had to put his foot down. "You don't know where we're going," he said, softly, almost wishing they'd taken the ancient entrance that led to the throne room instead of the back entrance that had an elevator, if only it meant a faster route. "Have patience, we're not missing anything."

When she'd finally started to hint at marriage, he'd known he couldn't put this off anymore. Asking her father was a quaint, somewhat sexist, tradition to her. Asking his father, the head of his family, was a necessity. 

Targaryens, he'd reminded her, had killed their kin for less. But she'd just laughed, thinking he was making a joke. On the mainland his family was mostly history and legends, even though it had been only a century since their rule had dissolved into little more than ceremonial. 

She'd understood he'd had an odd childhood when he confessed to her some of the things he didn't understand at school, but seemed to think it was some quirk and not the culture of his family, of the ancient Valyrians that remained.

He'd spoken nothing but Old Valyrian until he was five, at which point High Valyrian and then Common were introduced. He'd been homeschooled and had only been allowed close contact with other Valyrians for much of his life. His hair and skin color made him look less like the typical examples of his people to outsiders, but he was still considered such.

His mother had been of the First Men, a sort of concession made every few generations to appease those who thought they could not inbreed every single generation. Sansa...Sansa would be a hard sell. Their children would be looked down upon, not given, or even allowed, the sort of sheltered childhood he'd had.

Away at college, something he'd begged his father for, he'd wanted that. Children who had "normal" lives apart from his family. Who went to school and played with other children unknown to him.

Now, back on Dragonstone, breathing in the air that Sansa would only be safely able to be in for a week, maybe, and feeling the thrum of energy from the always active volcano under their feet that he knew she didn't experience, he wasn't so sure. 

"It's weird," she began, as he led her deeper into the castle, "to think if history had gone a bit differently, your father would be ruling over us all."

Aemon winced. "He's very aware."

Away as he'd been, outside of his father's confidence, he couldn't know how his plotting was going. But he'd seen little signs in the politics of the mainland, in the fraying edges of the parliament and the rise of more traditional monarchists. Rhaegar wanted nothing more than he wanted the Iron Throne to not simply be a monument school children gaped at, but a symbol of power he and Aegon would sit upon.

"Sorry, sorry, I know you said to avoid politics. And history. And...a lot of stuff."

"Please. We only need to spend a week here, you're not Arya, you can be on your best behavior," he teased, trying to take the edge off.

She pouted, but nodded. "I can, I will be." 

He knew she was nervous, he also knew it was for the wrong reasons. His family would never like her, what they needed was for them to see she was tolerable. Or that they should let Aemon go.

They reached the sitting room Aemon knew some of his family would be waiting within and he braced himself. At least his father had not insisted on the throne room, he tried to reason, as while he was no King of Westeros, he was still, legally and truly, King of Dragonstone and the ruins of Old Valyria.

Entering, Sansa had the presence of mind to curtsy, as he'd warned her to do, and they waited for his father to be the first to speak.

Rhaegar mostly ignored Sansa, studying Aemon with great intensity. It had been nearly a year since they'd last seen each other, after spending nearly every day together for Aemon's life, and the scrutiny was welcome. Beside him, Mother Elia sat, thin and weak looking as she'd been all his life. Aegon, too, was there, watching him just as intently, but no one else.

-Aemon, my youngest, you have finally returned home.-

-I was always going to return, father.-

-Yes, you deserved my trust. Though we did not expect you to bring home...that.-

He squeezed Sansa's hand, knowing that while she knew a little High Valyrian, enough to keep up as a tourist in Essos, she would not follow this. "Sansa Stark, _kepa_ , of the North."

Sansa curtsied again, giving Rhaegar a charming smile. "It is an honor to meet you, your grace."

-You bring that here and allow it to pollute our ears?- Aegon muttered, making a quick hand symbol used by superstitious Valyrians to ward off corruption.

Their father did not scold him for talking out of turn, because they all knew he was thinking the same thing. Having to work in Common as a King was different than needing to deal with it in their lowered positions.

"Welcome, Sansa, we have heard much about you," Rhaegar replied to her in slightly accented Common, playing at courtesy.

Aemon stiffened, because _he_ hadn't been telling his family very much at all and now he was left wondering what the source his father had was. There were many among their classmates who would gladly sell information for money, he was sure, and the Targaryens had seen the end coming and squirreled away much of the royal coffers by the end, giving the impression the kingdom was near bankruptcy. Good investments after had left his father one of the richest men in the world.

Aegon and Elia were introduced, each of them pretending at being nice, charm coming easily. He was glad that for this his aunt and uncle weren't present, they were far worse at hiding their feelings. This way introductions and their dismissal went quickly.

-Does it know it's temporary?- Aegon walked beside them, ostensibly escorting them to their rooms.

-Why would she be temporary?-

His older brother gave him an incredulous look. -You can't be serious about that thing, brother. What if you accidentally bred with it?-

-If Sansa and I have children, it won't be accidentally.-

The disgust on Aegon's face made Aemon feel hesitant, again, doubtful. There had been other Targaryens who had broken from tradition, but nearly all had been banished by the family or punished by the gods, often both.

-Does Daenerys know you're cavorting with an Andal?-

Aemon hoped not, but knew his father well enough to assume that Daenerys had been invited back from Volantis to meet his girlfriend. 

-If I did such to Rhaenys, she would break my legs and lock me in the dungeon,- Aegon continued, listing what was surely one of the less horrible punishments their older sister would visit upon them.

Technically, Aemon wasn't engaged to Daenerys. His father had wanted to see which of them fit together best and then Aegon and Rhaenys easily paired off. For he and Daenerys, their relationship was rockier, premised on the fact Viserys wasn't particularly interested in women and their only commonality that they wanted to see the world. But Daenerys was caught up in mysticism and tales of magic, convinced the way forward was not through Rhaegar's manipulation of politics and policies, but sheer, terrifying power.

She had not been happy when Aemon had chosen Andal college over a pilgrimage to Old Valyria. For three years, they hadn't said a word to each other.

But she would still think of Aemon as hers, if they went a dozen years without speaking.

"Do you live here full time or have a residence of your own, Prince Aegon?" Sansa interrupted his thoughts and Aegon's mutterings about what torments Aemon had to look forward to.

Aegon paused, then replied, "We keep homes in Volantis and other cities, but I mostly stay in our estate in Summerhall." He gave Aemon the same look of regret he always did, the one that said it should be Aemon in Summerhall, with their father in King's Landing. "When I heard of Aemon's visit, I flew back. Most of the family will be here."

"I suppose hoping for a small introduction was wishful thinking." She laughed, leaning against Aemon. "Are you aunt and uncle, and your sister, returning, too?"

"Daenerys is here, though she is recovering from jetlag and travel at the moment. Viserys will be here tomorrow. Rhaenys came in with me, but had an appointment."

"I'll be happy to meet them, Aemon's met my entire family, now, we even went to the Vale to meet my aunt and cousin there."

Aegon smiled, but his eyes were hollow and dark when they met Aemon's. "We've heard all about your trips."

She grinned back at him, squeezing Aemon's arm. "I didn't realize Aemon spoke to you so often, I'm so glad you're so close."

Again, Aemon could only wonder who was spying. If it was many, or a few.

When he'd realized what his phone could be, he'd gotten a cheap one of his own, often leaving the one his father gave him in his dorm. He'd had his computer checked by a few friends he made who were more technically minded. He'd even frequently searched his things for devices that could be bugs or trackers.

To Sansa, it might have seemed paranoid, but he still remembered the first time he and Sam had found a camera installed in the overhead light of their room. After that, he'd requested a single, not wanting to draw anyone deeper in than they were, though the loneliness of the tiny empty room had driven him to call his family more often, despite his anger.

But he had stopped talking to them as much since becoming more serious with Sansa, her own family slowly slotting into his life. Robb, only a little older than him but already out of college and experienced in the world. Arya, who he shared a great deal of common interests with. Ned, Sansa's father, who seemed to never blame Aemon for any of the cultural misunderstandings and thought, somehow, that he was a good match for his daughter.

If his own family knew, Aemon was surprised they hadn't done anything to sabotage it. The Starks, like the Targaryens, had lost their place as rulers when democracy swept through the country, but were now even less powerful. A dead Stark here or there could be easily hidden.

"Your room, Sansa," Aegon offered, pulling Aemon from his thoughts. "Your luggage should already be within. If you have need of anything, there's a pull near the door to summon housekeeping."

She giggled. "Like some old movie," she murmured, though Aemon knew Aegon would have heard it.

"I'll see you in the morning, I'll meet you here and show you how to get down to breakfast." He kissed her cheek, chastely, then started towards the family wing.

-This charade is sickening. Are you trying to blackmail father into something? Using it as leverage?-

-What? No, of course not. Not everything is a political move, Aegon.-

That gave Aegon pause for a moment and it seemed as though he was lost in his own thoughts. More plotting, probably, which Aemon wished no part of.

He wasn't left alone when he got to his room and, worse yet, Rhaenys was already waiting for them, sitting on his bed in silky lingerie. Glancing between the two of them, Aemon wasn't sure what to expect. He'd lost his virginity to them in a similar scenario, but Aegon hadn't been angry at him then.

-We're so happy to have you back, Aems,- she crooned at him.

-It's a visit, I'm on break from school.-

His siblings exchanged glances, a worrying sign of their united front against him.

-I do not think you should return. You have been away too long. Aegon has no real friends but us.-

-That isn't my fault.-

-I cannot be friends with those I am to rule.- Whether Aegon was protesting Rhaenys' words or offering a defense to Aemon was unclear. -But the two of us have been lonely without you. Why do you not wish to stay? Why must you go out there and pretend to be something you aren't?-

Aemon frowned, unsure of what to say to that when he'd tried so many times before to describe his feelings. It had been easier the first few times, when he could claim his siblings wouldn't miss him as they claimed. Now...he knew they weren't lying, he had missed them, too.

-I must return, I don't have much longer before I earn my degree.-

-But will you return after that?- He did not meet Rhaenys' eyes and she scoffed. -You would miss the birth of your first niece or nephew for a useless piece of paper?-

A surprised noise escaped him and he fully looked her over, noticing just the slightest bulge of her belly. -You...why did you not tell me earlier?-

She sat up and allowed him to kneel in front of her, to press his palm against her, in wonder. Aegon set a hand atop Aemon's head, petting his hair, the moment feeling almost normal.

-I was with the family doctor when you arrived, father insists on frequent check-ups.-

-As he should!- His mother had died giving birth to him, he feared for Rhaenys' own health.

She smirked down at him, pulling him closer and up, until he was leaning over her, their lips so close. -I am blessed to have family who are so concerned for me.-

Guilt ate at him as they kissed, as Aegon pressed up close behind him. If something went wrong, he'd be hours away at school.

Eventually he forgot what he'd been thinking about, forgot to think at all.


End file.
